Prep football: Naples High pulls away from Barron Collier again

Naples exploded in the fourth quarter to pull out a 42-14 win over visiting Barron Collier in the Crosstown Showdown

Naples linebacker Brian Donnelly (45) reacts after getting a safety in the second half of the Barron Collier-Naples Crosstown Showdown football game Friday, Oct. 5 at Naples High School.

NAPLES - BC 0 7 0 7 — 14

N 0 12 7 23 — 42

SCORING

Second quarter

BC – Berman 1 run (kick good), 11:55

N – Byrd 31 pass from Anderson (kick failed), 6:33

N – Joseph 45 run (run failed), 1:15

Third quarter

N – Byrd 37 pass from Anderson (Nunez kick), 0:15

Fourth quarter

N – Safety (runner tackled in end zone), 11:52

N – Byrd 52 free kick return (Nunez kick), 11:42

N – Anderson 5 run (Nunez kick), 10:30

BC – Heuerman 36 pass from Klahm (kick good), 5:09

N – Morissaint 1 run (Nunez kick), 2:35

Bottled up for almost three entire quarters, Naples flashed its trademark explosiveness late in Friday's Crosstown Showdown. The result was yet another victory over rival Barron Collier.

The Golden Eagles scored 23 points in less than two minutes to turn a hard-fought contest into a blowout. Naples won 42-14 in front of its home crowd, beating Barron Collier for the 14th straight time and taking the lead in the Class 6A-District 12 standings.

The start of the game was delayed two hours by lightning.

Barron Collier (4-2, 0-1) scored first, and Naples clung to a 12-7 lead late in the third quarter. That's when Naples' defense and special teams took over.

The Golden Eagles (6-0, 1-0) recovered a fumble and scored on the next play. Two plays later they tackled a Barron Collier player in the end zone for a safety. Naples then returned the ensuing free kick for a touchdown, forced another turnover and scored three plays later.

"That changed our attitude," said junior linebacker Brian Donnelly, who forced the first fumble. "They came out a little more physical than us at first. After that (turnover), we just dominated."

With 16 seconds left in the third quarter Naples was up 12-7. By the 10:30 mark of the fourth quarter the Eagles led 35-7, and Barron Collier was lamenting another squandered opportunity to its archnemesis.

The Cougars haven't beaten Naples since 1998, Bill Kramer's first year as head coach of the Eagles. The past three years Barron Collier has led Naples only to let the game slip away in the second half. The previous two games the Cougars led at halftime before losing.

"Naples is a good football team," first-year Barron Collier coach Dan Pallante said. "You make mistakes against them and it can get out of hand fast.

"The disappointing thing is we were playing good football. We were doing a good job playing defense. The only disappointing thing is we made mistakes."

The game got off to a sluggish start thanks to a two-hour weather delay that kept pregame warm-ups to just 25 minutes. Neither team scored in the first quarter, and offense was at a premium in the first half.

Barron Collier's downfall Friday came after a promising defensive stand. The Cougars held Naples on fourth down and got the ball back at their own 26. On the second play of the ensuing drive Barron lost a fumble and Naples' onslaught began.

It started with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Kilton Anderson to freshman Tyler Byrd. It was Byrd's second touchdown catch of the night. The kick return gave Naples 16 points in 34 seconds spanning the third and fourth quarters.

And Byrd wasn't done.

After Naples tackled Barron's Steven Dekevich in the end zone for safety, Byrd took the Cougars' free kick 52 yards untouched. With his three-touchdown performance, Byrd has scored in three straight games.

The Golden Eagles scored 23 points in the fourth quarter and 30 points in the game's final 12 minutes, 15 seconds.

"Barron always comes out hard against us," Donnelly said. "The difference in the second half was we kept getting turnovers and giving our offense the ball."

In a three-team district, Naples needs only to beat Palmetto Ridge after next week's bye week to win its third straight district championship. Barron Collier must beat the Bears on Nov. 2 to finish runner-up and make the playoffs for a sixth straight season.